Air Canada workers walk off job at Toronto, Montreal airports

Air Canada workers stage wildcat strike at Toronto's Pearson Airport

Dozens of flights out of Toronto and Montreal were cancelled or delayed Friday morning after Air Canada’s ground crew staged a wildcat strike.

Late Thursday night about 150 ground crew workers walked off the job in Toronto after three workers were suspended for apparently clapping sarcastically at Minister of Labour Lisa Raitt, who was walking through the airport. By Friday morning, the labour action had spread to Montreal.

Air Canada said the “illegal job action” was by a “small number of our ground handling employees” at Pearson.

Spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said Friday morning the airline was seeking an injunction to end the walkout.

“We want to resolve this as quickly as possible and we are using every legal means that we have.”

“Our aim is obviously we want to get the airline back up and running and get our customers to their destination as quickly as we can.”

The airline has put in place a rebooking policy where people whose flights have been cancelled can rebook at no charge, Mr. Fitzpatrick said.

He said some employees and managers are still working and some planes are taking off.

Mr Fitzpatrick said he didn’t have any information that Air Canada workers were suspended for making sarcastic comments to Labour Minister Raitt.

Air Canada has been locked in a labor dispute with both its pilots and ground workers unions.

Earlier this month Raitt pushed through legislation that sent the two labor disputes to binding arbitration, preventing both a threatened strike by the airline’s machinists, and lockout of pilots by the airline.

In addition, Raitt effectively blocked a strike or lockout by asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board to decide whether Air Canada is a service essential for Canadians’ health and safety.

A spokesman for the union representing the ground workers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, could not be reached immediately for comment.

Steve Kent, the chief commissioner of Scouts Canada, said he, his wife and infant son were trying to get to Houston from Newfoundland, but had to turn back after an ordeal that left his family stranded in Toronto overnight.

“Two delays last night, eventually made it to Toronto, sat on runway, then no bags,” he said in an email to Postmedia News. “Two hours sleep.

“Found bags downstairs this morning. Houston flight cancelled. Now trying to get back home. Air Canada staff have been very helpful. We may fly at lunchtime, but I’m not optimistic.”

Peel Regional Police in Ontario got a call about the strike at 10 p.m. ET and arrived to find about 150 workers gathered at Terminal 1, said Const. Fiona Thivierge.

The workers were “mostly milling about,” she said, noting that it was a peaceful demonstration that had already started to disperse.

“It looks more impromptu than anything else,” Thivierge said.

“They’re yelling and chanting and stuff, but there are no signs and they’re not disrupting the flow, which is what we were most concerned with.”

Management was on scene, Thivierge said.

Scott Armstrong, spokesman for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said several flights had been affected, He declined to give further details.

On March 13, legislation passed the House of Commons preventing the airline from locking out pilots and blocking any legal strikes from members of its machinists union. Bill C-33, which passed by a vote of 155-124, addresses about 8,600 mechanics, baggage handlers and other ground crew, along with about 3,000 pilots.

The bill passed the Senate two days later.

Last Sunday, Air Canada said it had asked the government’s labour relations board to intervene after an unusually large number of pilots called in sick on a busy spring-break weekend, contributing to numerous flight cancellations.

At that time, Queen’s University industrial relations professor George C.B. Smith told Postmedia News the disruptions come as no surprise, given the government’s imposition of a resolution.

“There’s a huge trust that traditionally exists between employers and employees and when that trust is broken, this is one of the potential outcomes.”

Smith, a former director of employee relations for Air Canada, told Postmedia News, “This is the part that minister Raitt doesn’t understand. And this is the part that the Harper government doesn’t understand, is that you can superficially get this off the table and you can sweep it away, but there some issues that have to be dealt with. And these employees are not going to accept the way this has been dealt with.”

Statement from Air Canada

March 23, 2012 — Due to illegal work action by Air Canada ground handling employees in Toronto and Montreal, Air Canada is experiencing delays and some cancellations of flights departing Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Montreal Trudeau Airport (YUL) this morning.

Customers are requested to check the status of their flight at aircanada.com before leaving for the airport.

In order to facilitate changes to travel plans, Air Canada has revised its ticketing policy for customers booked on flights that are subject to cancellation. Those customers wishing to make alternate travel arrangements can do so without penalty, space permitting, by using Air Canada’s self service rebooking tool at aircanada.com, on their mobile device, or by contacting Air Canada Reservations toll free in Canada and the U.S. at 888-247-2262; TTY: 1-800-361-8071 or Air Canada Reservations worldwide. Due to increased call centre volume, wait times will be longer than usual.

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